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Bayern coach Hansi Flick (in Rome during the game against Lazio): Doesn't rely on the latest additions
Photo: Alexander Hassenstein / Getty Images
Leon Goretzka created a beautiful new word shortly after the final whistle.
He predicted that they had been aggressive from the start, that they had found their way into the game wide awake and that they had not slept through the first half as they did last.
And then Goretzka said: "We have brought the matchday mode back onto the pitch." So the matchday mode.
Well then.
In comparatively old-fashioned linguistics, he could have said: That was Bayern-like again.
The 4: 1 at Lazio Rome in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 was a clear demonstration of power by FC Bayern.
In the face of a completely overwhelmed opponent, the game might say little about whether Bayern recklessly roll through the knockout phase as a huge favorite to win the handlebar again: At least they have ambitions to successfully defend their title with their appearance at the Stadio Olimpico solidly underpinned and at the same time kicked out of a small crisis for the moment after losing five points in the league against Bielefeld (3: 3) and Frankfurt (1: 2).
It was an evening on which not only the FC Bayern team set a sign of strength: but also Hansi Flick with a clear signal to the club management.
Because the starting line-up in a squad thinned by injuries and corona cases said a lot about who Hansi Flick is currently trusting - and what he thinks of the newcomers signed by sports director Hasan Salihamidzic at the beginning of the season.
With the exception of Leroy Sané, none of the purchases were on the pitch at kick-off.
Not Bouna Sarr, who was brought in as a substitute for right-back Benjamin Pavard, who is currently suffering from Covid-19.
For this, Niklas Süle, who was recently badly scolded, played again on the right back.
And Süle promptly made his best game in a long time in Rome.
There is even no room for the former king transfer
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, most recently in the back of Robert Lewandowski in the position of Thomas Müller, only sat on the bench.
Instead, Jamal Musiala made his starting eleven debut in the Champions League three days before his 18th birthday and became Bayern’s youngest scorer in the premier class with his goal to make it 2-0.
Marc Roca, once highly praised by Salihamidzic when shopping?
Likewise only substitutes, Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka played on the sixth position.
And on top of that, Lucas Hernández, who was actually a left-back as well as a central defensive man in two positions, just watched and saw from outside how Alphonso Davies on the outside and David Alaba and Jerome Boateng defended very well on the inside and made clever moves on the way.
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Jamal Musiala first celebrated his starting eleven debut in the premier class, later his goal
Photo: ALBERTO LINGRIA / REUTERS
Sarr, Choupo-Moting, Roca, Hernández, four players who recently got playing time again and again, but who still owed the final proof of really great quality to advance FC Bayern.
A quartet that Hansi Flick obviously does not trust to be able to help the team with the beginning of the knockout phase of the Champions League and entry into the last third of the season of the Bundesliga.
Of course, one can emphasize the adverse circumstances, how complicated the transfer market may have been six months ago, in the summer after the first corona wave.
On the other hand, the problem with Hernández already existed in pre-pandemic times.
Hernández, a player who the club management wanted to see in 2019 after this record investment of 80 million euros as the future defense chief - and who mostly found himself in the reserve role under Flick.
Another example at the time was Alvaro Odriozola, who came to Munich in early 2020 - and who then became the Bouna Sarr of the preseason.
Odriozola should also replace and relieve Pavard on the right rear if necessary.
And even he only got hold of the train sporadically.
The starting XI of FC Bayern on Tuesday evening showed two things in short.
On the one hand, the club management and the sports directorate will have to think a lot about the squad for the coming season despite an upcoming return of the current lack of permanent staff.
And on the other hand, that Hansi Flick finally wants more power and a greater say in personnel planning.
Flick wants a veto right
Almost a year ago, the Bayern coach caused a stir when he asked in an interview to be able to intervene as a coach with planned transfers.
"When it comes to newcomers and reinforcements, the coach must have a right of veto in my opinion," said Flick at the time.
“It is important to have the right eye there and also to be able to reject suggestions.” He is concerned with a “homogeneous structure”, and Flick continues: “The coach and the players have to pass.” Not everything seems to be right now to fit.
It is well known that there is always a crunch internally between Flick and Salihamidzic. Most recently, board member Oliver Kahn described the friction as “a kind of culture of debate”, which has always been an “essential success factor” for Bayern.
But it is undoubtedly not a good sign when the sports management buys in players and the coach only puts them on the bench.
When planning for the coming season, the club bosses will not be able to avoid including Flick even more in the squad planning.
Otherwise, the constructive culture of argument could develop into a conflict with the potential for escalation in the coming months.
First of all, everyday life in the league continues, Saturday against Cologne at half past four, to be wide awake in the game as in Rome.
Bayernlike in matchday mode.
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